A 30-year-old pilot was killed after she crashed into a potato processing plant in Idaho last week — and her mourning family wants the airport shut down for good, according to reports.
Brittney Infanger was flying UPS packages from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Burley, Idaho, when she crashed into the Gem State Processing plant after landing around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, her father told East Idaho News.
Infranger, an experienced pilot of 11 years, died on impact when her plane hit the plant, which is at the end of the runway at the Burley Airport.
“That airport needs to be closed, period,” her father, Jim Bob Infranger, told the outlet. “I’m a pilot myself and … many pilots have told me how unsafe the Burley airport is and how they’ve begged the county to relocate it.
Brittney Infanger was killed when she crashed into a potato processing plant in Idaho last week. Brittney Infanger/Instagram“They’ve allowed this potato processing plant to continue to expand and this chimney comes up and has a huge amount of steam. If the wind is blowing (a certain direction), you fly right into this wall of steam. That was the case that morning.”
Jim Bob said there’s a hazardous, unlit, 60-foot-high chimney that runs right across the center of the runway.
Infanger’s family is calling for the airport to be shut down. Brittney Infanger/Instagram
Infanger died on impact when her plane hit the plant, which is at the end of the runway at the Burley airport. Brittney Infanger/Instagram
Infanger’s father thinks his daughter may have hit a bird on her descent. Brittney Infanger/Instagram“So whenever you come in, you have to fly over the top of this and drop down,” he said.
The distraught father is not sure exactly what may have caused the collision but suggested that she may have hit a bird on her descent. The medical examiner believes her wing may have hit the chimney, causing the plane to flip, East Idaho News reported.
The Minidoka County coroner is expected to release more information about the crash on Thursday or Friday, according to the Heyburn Police Department.
Bob Infranger said Burley airport is known to be unsafe for pilots. FOX 13
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash. FOX 13The Federal Aviation Administration along with the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
Brittney is the fifth of seven children in her family, according to Fox 13. She flew her first solo flight at the age of 19 while juggling attending college and going on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints.
After college, she became a teacher in Arizona before moving back to Idaho during the pandemic to give flying lessons.
